My Girlfriend's a Fox
by Count Kulalu
Summary: Julie's undergoing some weird changes.Changes involving her sprouting fur and tails.Can Ben help her, or is Julie going to be a real fox?What does her mom know about this change?What secret is Snively hiding?What does Benwolf have to do with this story?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Ben 10 and/or Ben 10: Alien Force and/or Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and/or any and/or all concepts and/or characters. They are copyrighted to Man of Action and Cartoon Network Studios. **_

_**I don't own Japanese folklore either. It belongs to…well…the Japanese. I had to say that because I don't want to be banished from visiting their wonderful country again. It's a nice place. Very Nice. I'd go there again, but I don't think I can with this economy. Oh well.**_

"_**I do, however, reserve the right to claim Klank and Orbus as my robot minions considering that I hired them after Zeo and Ohranger ended. But I don't own the shows they appear in. **_

_**I also own my OC,**__** Jacques D. **__**Schniezel**__**, Even though his nickname is Snively. He is mine and if you want him to appear in your story, ask me, or if I want him to appear in yours, I'll ask you.**_

_**Just wanted to make that perfectly clear! Enjoy!"**_

_**-Count Kulalu-**_

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_

Most legends of the kitsune becoming human and marrying human males end in tragedy. However, there is one I heard that does not end so sadly, and helps explain the origins of the phrase 'kitsune':

Ono, an inhabitant of Mino, spent the seasons longing for his ideal of female beauty. He met her one evening on a vast moor and married her. Simultaneously with the birth of their son, Ono's dog was delivered of a pup which as it grew up became more and more hostile to the lady of the moors. She begged her husband to kill it, but he refused. At last one day the dog attacked her so furiously that she lost courage, resumed vulpine shape, leaped over a fence and fled.

"You may be a fox," Ono called after her, "but you are the mother of my son and I love you. Come back when you please; you will always be welcome."

So every evening she stole back and slept in his arms.

_From that day forward, the fox would return to her husband each night as a woman but leave each morning as a fox, which gave her the name Kitsune. For in the classical Japanese, (kitsu)-(ne) means 'come and sleep' and (ki)-(tsune) means 'always comes'._

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Step 1-Admitting you have a problem. :)

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Chapter 1- What did I…? Oh No! (Or When was the last time I saw a doctor?)

"Oh…where am I?" Julie Yamato asked groggily as she got up. She was rubbing her eyes and trying to clear the blurred images from her vision. Julie realized that it was morning, though she didn't see a clock to tell her what time it was. She looked around the room, taking note of all the thrown piles of clothes, the posters of Sumo Slammers and-

"_Wait, what?"_ Julie suddenly realized that she was not in her own room, a second later it occurred to her that she was not even in her own bed. And as she looked at herself, she found that all to be the tip of the iceberg as she realized that the sheets that draped her were the only things covering her body. At that point, Julie was too horrified to scream. She hoped that it wasn't what she was thinking that happened. Fortunately, a series of snores next to her were able to break Julie out of her thoughts. Seeing the person that was snoring was enough to get her to calm down because lying next to her on the bed was Ben.

He wasn't in the sheets with her, nor was he out of his clothes. In fact, Ben looked like he fell asleep in them because he was too exhausted from doing something. Seeing Ben next to her like this reassured Julie that she didn't wake up to discover that she had been raped or had any sort of sexual encounter, but it still didn't answer why she is naked in her boyfriend's bed.

-Knock, Knock-

"Ben? Are you up yet? Breakfast is almost ready."

Julie immediately recognized the voice of Mrs. Tennyson. Seeing that Ben wasn't getting up to answer it, she stayed silent and hoped that her boyfriend's mother wouldn't come walking in to check on her son. The woman really thought of her as a good influence for Ben and Julie didn't want her or her own parents to think she was so…flimsy. Unfortunately, her prayers seemed to go unanswered as the doorknob slowly started to turn.

Julie tried to think if there was any way out, but her thoughts were all shifting a mile a minute in fear of the impending doom to her untarnished image. In all of her panic, only one thought came to her mind. _"How did I get here?"_

* * *

Some weeks ago

"Hahahahaha! Your Alien powers are formidable, fools, but they are no match for the mighty genius that is DOCTOR ANIMO!" The 'good doctor' laughed as he fired another blast from his strange gun. It seemed he was up to his old habits of causing chaos to society with one of his usual attacks to the downtown Bellwood area. What a coincidence it was that Ben was on a double date with Julie, his cousin Gwen, and Kevin.

"Does this guy ever shut up about his name?" Kevin asked as he deflected the blast with the metallic coating of his arms.

Gwen blocked another blast with a mana wall. "Kevin."

"What? It's true. It's always, 'OH I'm Dr. Animo this!' and 'OH I'm Dr. Animo that!'." He tried to move up close to Animo, but the doctor took another shot that had Kevin jumping back at the last second. Kevin just smirked at the doctor. "Seriously, I bet you can't even go one sentence without saying your name."

"A retched street monger like you has no right to insult the dialogue of the great Dr. Animo!"

Kevin just smiled at Gwen. "See, told you." Gwen just huffed in annoyance.

"Errr! Fine, but that still won't help you against the awesome might of my new DNA scrambler. With this, I will finally unite mankind with the animal kingdom." He laughed with glee as he raised the weapon for everyone to see it. It looked like the cross between a bazooka and a syringe. Never before was there a weapon that was so intimidating and yet so cheesy.

"Umm, how is this different from any of your other plans?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, you always do this, you one trick pony." Ben said in the form of Fourarms. His smirk and crossed arms said it all. Kevin and Gwen couldn't hold back their smiles at this statement. Even Julie grinned as she and Ship were armed and ready in their battle armor.

"…At least I can keep focused on my style of work." That was technically true. The doctor may have been on a one track mind to mutate the populace, but at least he wasn't one of those villains whose plans went all over the place just to achieve world domination. "Arrgh, why am I bothering, you'll all be mindless beasts when I'm done with you!" The blasts came at them with more fury and vigor. This time they almost came close to hitting a Julie, but Ship was able to form jets on the armor to gain enough speed to dodge them. She noticed a particular burst from Dr. Animo's weapon was about to hit Fourarms with nowhere to dodge. At the last minute, she picked up Fourarms and started flying them away to give them more room to fight.

"How are you holding up, Julie?" Fourarms asked. Julie certainly seemed to be doing a good job at keeping up with them.

"Well, all things considering, I think I'm doing good so far." She hoped so. Julie may not be out saving the world from evil like her friends do almost every day, but she didn't want to be useless when they needed her help.

"Julie, look out!"

-Boom!-

A blast stuck Julie and sent her and Fourarms flying into the ground. As she crashed down, electricity was leaking from Ship as he dispelled the armor and skidded onto the ground. As Julie picked herself up, she saw that his lights were blinking dimly as he painfully cried out. "S-s-ship…s-s-ship…"

"Ship!" Julie ran over to her pet mechnomorph. She took off her pink sweater and rapped him up. "Are you okay, boy?" In her hurry to check over him, she was shot in the side by Dr. Animo.

"AAAAhhh!" She cried out. Fourarms ran towards her, hoping to stop her from becoming a mutant.

"Julie, are you all right?" Fourarms asked as he helped her up while picking up the unconscious Ship. She looked at where the blast struck her, but didn't see anything but a few burned rips on her clothes. Other than that, she looked perfectly fine. "I think so. Although, I'm definitely going to need a new shirt."

Dr. Animo was perplexed at this new development. "How could it not have worked? All my calculations showed that my device would be a success. How could it have failed? There can be no way someone with my intellect could have made such an error. There must be some mistake." He looked at the settings of his gun again to make sure it was working right, which left him vulnerable to an attack-specifically from Julie's super powered alien boyfriend.

"Mistake this!" Fourarms shouted as he jumped. He raised all four of his fists behind his head and then…

-Pow!-

With a double Fourarms Haymaker, to the head, the 'good' doctor was knocked out. Fourarms then grabbed the device and crushed it with the super strength of all four of his hands. "Heh, now that was easy."

In a green flash, he had reverted back to Ben Tennyson, the human and defender of the galaxy. The first thing he took note of was his girlfriend's condition and saw she was putting her sweater back on. He also saw that ship was better and had melded into his backpack form so Julie could carry him. "How are you and Ship?"

"We're ok. Right, Ship?" Julie asked her 'backpack' that happily blinked and chirped back. "Ship! Ship!"

"Are you sure you're alright, Julie?" Gwen asked. She ran a check on her mana, but didn't find anything out of the ordinary.

"I'm sure she's fine, Gwen. Animo's device must have been a dud. Besides, all the effects of his stuff happen instantly, right?" Ben reasoned.

"Hard to argue with that." Kevin picked up the crumpled up remains of Animo's latest invention. "I'll keep an eye on this, though. I may be able to sell it for a pretty credit like the other ones."

This brought up a question that Ben was meaning to ask. "You know, what do you do with his stuff that we collect?"

"Oh, mostly strip the goods for spare parts. Though I fixed up a few and sold them to some kids for a science fair once."

"What!" Gwen shouted. "You mean that was your fault?"

Julie agreed with Gwen. "That's was really irresponsible, Kevin."

Kevin shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly. "Let the buyer beware."

Seeing that the police would eventually get Dr. Animo to prison-again-the four decided to call it a day and head home. They all agreed that while the villain did come, it

If they looked closer, they would have seen that the spot Julie was scratching at was the same spot she got hit at by Dr. Animo's attack.

-To be continued-

**

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**

Next Time:

**Julie's got the feeling sickly blues.**

"_I'm sure it's nothing –cough- to worry about." Julie assured Ben as he walked her home._

**Hope you get well soon Julie because a mysterious force is on the prowl.**

"_What could have caused these scratch marks?" Gwen wondered as she studied the remains of the knocked down tree. Kevin lifted up one of the branches. "Whatever it was, it was pretty strong to make this pile of scrap wood."_

**Could it be…?**

"_GHOSTS!" Jacques shouted as he made a run for it. Ben just stood there with a weirded out look on his face. "O-k-a-y, I'll take that as a no."_

**Well, no but tune in next time as we begin this story off properly:**

**Next Episode: ****Coming down with something awful while something awful this way comes…?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**_**: I don't own Ben 10 and/or Ben 10: Alien Force and/or Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and/or any and/or all concepts and/or characters. They are copyrighted to Man of Action and Cartoon Network Studios. **_

_**I don't own…I don't know…Disney…silver mines…a boat?**_

"_**I do, however, reserve the right to claim Klank and Orbus as my robot minions considering that I hired them after Zeo and Ohranger ended. But I don't own the shows they appear in. **_

_**I also own my OC,**__** Jacques D. **__**Schniezel**__**, Even though his nickname is Snively. He is mine and if you want him to appear in your story, ask me, or if I want him to appear in yours, I'll ask you.**_

_**Just wanted to make that perfectly clear! Enjoy!**_

_**Oh! And remember: CHICKS DIG ORBUS!"**_

_**-Count Kulalu-**_

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_

Now what exactly is a kitsune?

_It is a type of youkai, or spiritual being usually recognized in Japanese folklore. The meaning of their name has been defined as 'fox-spirit'. They may be more famously known by the fact that they can take the form of a beautiful woman. It is a belief of feudal Japan that any woman traveling alone, especially at night, is actually a fox in disguise. So in conclusion, avoid any pretty woman traveling alone, because they could be a kitsune._

_Unless, of course, you are traveling in the snow during a blizzard, but you should still avoid them there too. Those women are Yuki-onna, which are another matter entirely._

* * *

Chapter 2- Coming down with something awful while something awful this way comes…? (Or Why I wish I was home in bed.)

It was late into the night. The moon was rising above the clouds, illuminating what the dull street lamps could not. Even this peaceful neighborhood looked foreboding at this hour. The shadows from the trees, the lack of passing cars, or even people walking by only added to the dark ambiance of the area. Only someone not in their right mind would be out and about.

"Everything's almost ready. Soon, vengeance shall be mine!"

Only someone **NOT** in their right mind would be out and about.

"All I need is this one piece place right here…and perfect." Jacques D. Schniezel-commonly known as Snively-was busy at work with another trap to finally conquer his nemesis. Some time ago, a mysterious dog of some sort came through his window and ate his video games, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that the dog kept coming back to torture the self-called scientist even more. He didn't know what it was, but that dog seemed to want to eat anything electronic that **HE** owned. He even tested the theory by borrowing a few phones from some people he knew-alright, he stole them, but he gave them back before they knew they were missing-and set them up in a trap. Not only did the dog not take the bait, but it had sneaked up behind him to eat the phone in his back pocket. This only further infuriated the young scientist and equally spurred him on to bring out his arsenal to deal with this enemy. So far, all his attempts to catch the mutt were unsuccessful.

"I like to see you get out of this one, doggie." He climbed up a tree and pulled out a remote control from his pocket. "All I have to do is press this button here and the electromagnetic net should fall right over you. I know you'll show up because you can't resist the bait."

The 'bait' was a game console, an electronic toy gun, and a lava lamp. It was all lying there on the sidewalk next to the tree Snively was hidden in.

"Now, where are you?" A sound of rustling in the bushes alerted the young teen. He got ready by placing his goggles over his eyes. The moment he head the beep, he would drop the net. And so he waited…and waited…and waited…

-Bleep!-

"Gotcha!"

"Ship! Ship!"

"Oh, you can 'yip! yip!' all you want, but this time you're mine!" He held the net in front of him, to finally get a good look at his elusive nemesis. "Well, you really aren't a dog after all. Course, all this really means is that I can't send you to the pound."

Figuring that he had finally accomplished one of his life's goals, Snively decided to pack it up and bring this…whatever it was and show it to his parents. They would probably have some sort of idea as to what he had finally caught considering their connections. So Snively pocketed the toy gun, and picked up the game console, but he felt the least he could do for his captured nemesis was to allow it to eat the lava lamp. He was just about to start the walk back home when he saw something moving at the end of the block. It looked like somebody was walking in the middle of the street. Luckily there were no cars at this hour, but the motions of the figure suggested that they wouldn't care by the jerky movements they were making. Perhaps it was someone who had too much to drink?

"Who's there?" Snively asked the figure. But they didn't say.

The figure then fell on the floor. The young man was about to drop everything to help this person, but the dim lighting of the street suddenly gave him a better look.

It looked like it was a feminine person, then it started to shake and contort while making sounds like it was in pain. Before Snively could do anything to help the possible woman, she seemed to melt in the shadows then reform into something else; something more beastly!

"Oh dang!" It didn't take much brain power for Snively to realize he had to be like a tree and get the hell out of there! And what better place to go then up a tree! With strength and agility that the young man didn't realize he had, he was already up the tree with the bagged 'ship-whatever' and looking down at this creature. The creature seemed to be made of some sort of black inky substance, but had no defining features. He didn't see any sort of mouth on it, but it had the shape of a slender humanoid wolf or fox judging by its tail. It looked like he was safe for now.

"Looks like you can't get me. Now what are you gonna do about-"

Claws sprouted out of the thing's paws and it took a big swipe at the tree's base.

"Oh shi-"

In one swipe, it had somehow sliced through the tree and then timber! Snively tried to hold onto the branch, but decided to jump off at the last minute to avoid getting crushed.

"Man, that was close!" He then turned to see that the creature was right there in front of him. He tried holding up the game console to use as a shield, but the creature sliced it in half. As a reflex, he threw the pieces at its face, but that only made it madder. "Oh, crud! Oh, crud! Oh, crud!"

Snively tried the crawl backwards until he hit the fallen trunk of the tree. The creature leapt to claw at him, but he was able to duck at the last minute. He avoided the blow to his face, but it looked like in a few seconds it wouldn't matter. As the creature was readying another blow, he spoke what could be his last words.

"My dad was right! Plumbers weren't going to be the things that kill us!"

"Ship! Ship!"

"Oh what now, mutt?"

The 'mutt' leapt onto Snively and morphed into an alien looking bazooka. The guy was in shock, but decided to question this deus ex machina later. Making sure that his goggles were placed over his eyes, he readied himself for what could be his final attack. "Hope this thing blows it to hell!"

He pulled the trigger. –Bllllaaaaam!-

"Whaaaaaaa!" The recoil of the weapon was enough to send Snively flying back to the end of the block. He was knocked out for a few minutes due to hitting the pavement with such a great force. Ship turned back into his regular form and nudged the young man to try to wake him up.

"Oh, my head!" he said as he got back up. "I don't think I'll be doing that again."

"Ship! Ship!" Ship barked. He seemed to be happy that Snively was okay.

"Thanks, little guy." Snively said as he petted the 'dog'. "I guess this makes us even."

Ship barked back happily and scurried away. Snively figured that he should just let him leave as there were more pressing matters to be concerned about.

Snively looked around but could not find the beast that attacked him. All he could see was the scene leftover. Ship was walking towards the broken pile of 'bait' that was destroyed in the scuffle. The little technovore was now going for the broken remains of the game console.

A sudden noise drew the attention of the two individuals. There were police sirens blazing down the street. "Seems like the ruckus attracted the cops. Be pretty suspicious if they saw me out and about. Better get out of here!"

With that said, he ran home for three reasons: One because he had school tomorrow, two because the cops were coming, but mostly because three, he didn't want to find out if that creature was still alive.

XXXXX

"Oh…" Julie moaned as she got up. She felt as though she got hit in the head with her own Tennis racket.

She dreamt…something happened, but what it was she couldn't remember. Before she could dwell on it, her mother's shouts called out to her.

"Julie! Are you up? You don't want to be late."

"Coming!" Julie said as she hurried to get herself ready. She looked at the time and saw that she overslept a bit. She had time to get ready, but she had to rush because Ben was going to walk her to school today. After she got dressed and ready for the day, she rushed to the door.

"Oh Julie, make sure to call me if you need a ride after school."

"Okay, Mom, but I'll probably be tutoring Ben after school if Tennis practice isn't canceled." Julie told her as she opened the door. She could see Ben walking up to the curb. "That's him now, see you later."

"Well, hope you have a good day." Her mother called back from the kitchen as she ran out the door.

XXXXX

"So, how did you sleep?" Ben asked to try to start some conversation. It wasn't too long of a walk, but they had some time to talk.

"I woke up as though something decided to smash my head into a wall." She said with some hesitation. She felt better, but didn't want to worry Ben. It was only a few days since the fight with Dr. Animo and Ben finally eased down on making sure she was alright. Granted, he wasn't hovering over her, but he did keep a good eye on her for a while despite his assurance that Dr. Animo's stuff happened instantly.

"Are you okay?" Ben tried to hide his concern, but Julie still caught it.

"I'm not sprouting wings, Ben. I just woke up with a headache." She huffed. "I'm fine."

"Well, if you're sure-"

"I'm sure." Julie huffed, not wanting to start an argument with her boyfriend. Luckily Ben caught the idea to not make his girlfriend mad, so he decided to change the subject.

"So, I see you didn't bring Ship with you." He noted the regular backpack she was bringing. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine, but I didn't find him this morning." Julie remembered that while she was in a hurry to get ready, Ship wasn't there when she woke up.

"I'm sure he'll turn up." Ben assured as they turned the corner. "It's not like he could get into too much trouble."

"I suppose your right." She noted the time as they finally arrived at the school. "Now come on, or we'll be late."

XXXXX

So it was a normal day at Bellwood High. Both Ben and Julie went through their normal routine of going from class to class, eating lunch together, and staying out of trouble. Normally this routine included making sure Ship wasn't on the loose eating something like a computer, some kid's cell phone, or some new device that was important to Snively, but his absence today made it much easier.

The only thing that seemed to stick out was a slight cough that Julie was having, but she pretty much thought nothing of it.

Though, there was an interesting tidbit that Julie learned when she went to her locker after the final period today.

XXXXX

"Hey, Julie." Jacques greeted with a smile. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Julie replied, but noticed the bag he was trying to unjam from his locker. Normaly, she would try to just make some small talk to the guy and be on her way, but his locker's door was blocking entry to her own. She was also curious as to what mad doodad he had this time. "What's that you got there?"

"Oh, this? Well, it's my latest invention!" Jacques let go of the bag for a moment to put his trademark goggles over his eyes. He held up the bag and stroked it like a kitten. "Soon, that mangy dog will regret ever eating my video games, for I will be victorious! Then we'll see who's crazy now!" Jacques D. 'Snively' laughed manically while imitating his favorite internet host, Doctor Insano. Normally, this would cause people to run away in fear, but it made Julie laugh especially since she knew the 'mangy dog' personally. Their laughter was interrupted however as Julie started coughing again.

"Whoa, I didn't think my Insano impression would be that funny. Are you okay?"

Julie tried to wave him off. "I'm –cough- fine. Just need –cough- a drink." But she was worried. Her coughs were sounding much louder and made her throat much sorer.

Jacques didn't look too convinced, but he decided to just let it go. Besides, he figured that it would be best that he get hi stuff so Julie could get on her way.

"Alright, then. Well, I was thinking that I should call this whole feud with the dog off. To tell you the truth, I actually caught the thing last night and it didn't even look like a dog."

Julie's eyes widened when she heard that, but she broke into another fit of coughs before she could properly say anything.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm –cough- fine." Julie tried to sound convincing, but she could barely hide the worry in her voice. Luckily, Jacques didn't notice. "Maybe –cough- we could continue –cough- this another –cough- time."

"Okay, then." The weird guy started to turn around but remembered something. "Oh! Remember to tell Ben I'm still waiting for him to return my-"

But Julie wasn't there in the hallway. Jacques looked around, but saw no sign of her.

"Did she disappear? Or was she never there to begin with?" His eyes widened at the thought as shivers traveled down his spine. "Maybe that's why people say I'm a loner. Though, does this mean Ben, Gwen, and Kevin are also…?"

A hand touched his shoulder. "Hey, Snively. Have you seen-"

"GHOSTS!" Jacques shouted as he made a run for it. Ben just stood there with a weirded out look on his face. "O-k-a-y, I'll take that as a no."

XXXXX

Ben found Julie and then she told him what she heard Snively said about catching Ship last night. Though he was surprised at first, he wasn't too worried. He was more concerned about Julie's cough if anything.

"You should really get that cough checked out." Ben said.

"I'm sure it's nothing –cough- to worry about." Julie assured Ben as he walked her home. "Now what are we -cough- gonna do about Jacques?"

"Well, it didn't sound like he still had Ship." Ben reasoned. "If he did, I'm pretty sure he would have said something along the lines of 'At last! I've caught that mangy mutt. Now vengeance shall be mine! Hee-hee-hee-hee!'"

Julie couldn't help but laugh at Ben's impression of Snively. The cost of said laughter was that her coughs caused her more pain. "Please –COUGH- -COUGH- Ben, no -COUGH- more."

"You're really hurting." Ben looked around and made sure no one was there to see them. Making sure that the cost was clear, he activated the Ultimatrix and set it to Jetray. He slammed it down and in a flash of green light he transformed into:

"Bigchill!" the icy moth-like alien folded his wings into their cloak after he took one look at himself and sighed. "Again with this glitch? You think Albedo would have at least fixed this when he was busy trying to copy the Omnitrix."

"Oh." Julie said as she felt a little light headed. Bigchill caught her before she could fall. He put one hand to her forehead and felt that she was warmer than she should be.

"I better get you home." He replied as he placed her on his back. "You could be catching a 'cold'."

"Really –cough- Ben? That's…that's the best -cough- pun you could come up with?" She sounded woozy now. Bigchill made a note of that so he could ask Gwen and Kevin about it later.

"Just rest up for now, Julie. I'll get you home." He assured her. After making sure that her arms were wrapped tightly enough around his neck, he spread his wings and flew strait to Julie house to drop her off.

If he would have stayed a second longer, they would have encountered Ship running back home.

XXXXX

"What could have caused these scratch marks?" Gwen wondered as she studied the remains of the knocked down tree.

Kevin lifted up one of the branches. "Whatever it was, it was pretty strong to make this pile of scrap wood."

The two defenders of Earth were looking at a strange crime scene. They heard that a police report was given that mentioned some sort of animal noises. That wasn't the strangest part. The strangest part was the apparent sound of some sort of cannon and a flash of light that some people said to have witnessed.

"Hey, look at this." Gwen held up the broken pieces of what looked like a game console. It seemed to be covered in some sort of goo. It looked like some sort of black substance that thicker than ink. Gwen tried to run a mana check on it and was surprised at what she sensed.

It was a feeling like static, but the emotion she got from it was rage with some other emotion she couldn't describe underlining it.

"You're starting to spaz out, Gwen." Kevin said, pointing out her shaking hands. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just a weird feeling I'm getting from it." She stopped her hands from shaking. She took out a plastic container to collect the weird goo to see if they could scan it with something Kevin had. Surprisingly, it all came off and did not leave any trace on the piece of the game console. "And that's about it. I can't get a trace on it. It's almost like it's there, but it's not there."

"What's not there?" asked a chillingly creepy sounding voice.

The two turned to see Bigchill, or rather Ben since he reverted back. He looked around and noted the damage. "Whoa. What happened here?"

"Apparently, some animal." Kevin answered. "It seems that it just had a habit of making trees into lumber."

"Any clues?" Ben asked. Gwen handed him the now clean piece she found. "Just this. There was some sort of goo covering it, but we'll get that analyzed."

She noticed him looking and the piece intensely. "You recognize it?"

"No, but I think I know the person this belonged to." He recalled what Julie told him Snively said. "Snively."

"You mean that techno nerd?" Kevin smirked.

"He's not a techno nerd." Gwen retorted. "He's just a…um…"

Trying to ignore the sly look from Kevin, she tried to get back on topic. "Anyway, why do you think it's him?"

"Because he told Julie today that he finally caught Ship." Ben looked at the piece in his hand. "Though I doubt he still has him since he's not throwing that big party he said he would."

"So do you think he saw what happened?"

"He might have a good idea."

"Well, then let's find him and ask him what he knows."

XXXXX

Unfortunately, the trio realized that they had no idea where Snively lived. Even with their usual ways of gathering this information (mostly through Kevin doing something that might be considered illegal), it would take to long for something which may have been a dead end. Besides, Ben figured that he would at least get to confront the guy the next time he saw him at school. So with that matter settled he went to the next thing on his list: Checking up on Julie.

He went up to the door and rang the doorbell. He hoped Julie wasn't too sick to answer. He could always find a way in with Bigchill or Nanomech, but that was only if there was no other choice. (Boy, if his parents knew how easy it is for him to get into his girlfriend's house…)

The door opened, but to Ben's dismay it was not Julie. It was an older woman, who looked to be in her late twenties, or early thirties. Ben had never seen her before, but right away he could guess who she was.

"Hello, is Julie home?" He asked the woman nervously. Realizing that he just bumped into his girlfriend's mother, he had every right to be nervous. He had never got the pleasure of meeting Julie's parents before, but from what she told him he knew that her dad was some sort of businessmen who would sometimes travel and her mom was…well he hoped she didn't ask any questions because just looking at her made him forget everything he heard.

She was an Asian looking woman. Her facial features as well as her hair color were very similar to her daughter's. Although, she was paler, and wore her hair up in the back which suggested that it was longer. Her eyes were brown as well, but there was a certain gleam to them that seemed to stand out. She was dressed in a black sweater with white pants and shoes.

"Ah! So you must be the Ben Tennyson my daughter keeps going on about." She gave a smile. "It's good to see that you had taken the time out of your busy day to visit my poor little Julie."

"Well yes-I mean no! I mean, uh…"

"Don't worry. I'm only kidding." Mrs. Yamato laughed. She then opened the door fully. "Please, come in."

Ben tried to politely decline. "Well, I wouldn't want to impose."

"Oh, come on in. I don't bite. Though, be lucky that my husband is on a business trip. Now him, you should be frightened of." Before Ben could say no, he was grabbed by his arm and pulled inside.

XXXXX

"Man, what a drag." Snively sighed as he walked down the sidewalk that evening. He had spent a great deal of time searching, but found nothing. "Not one sign of that 'dog' anywhere."

Normally he would be looking for the 'dog' to get his revenge. Instead, he was looking for it to give it a thank you. "I still can't believe it was a Galvanic Mechamorph this entire time. I didn't know they could even become animals. He scratched the back of his head as he criticized himself for this mistake. "Man I have to update my databanks more often."

"Well, it doesn't matter…" He stopped himself for a moment. "Actually, it does matter! Who's been keeping a doggie Mechamorph and letting it loose?"

Snively tried to ponder this, but could not find an answer to this mystery. "Well, whoever it is, they better take care not to bring too much attention to themselves. It wouldn't be good to bring the wrong kind of beings into this matter."

Still, he wondered who could possibly hide a Galvanic Mechnomorph here in Bellwood of all places. It would have to be someone clever, smart, and not willing to give in to pressure.

XXXXX

"You told her what!" Gwen was just too surprised at what she heard.

"I just admitted that all those times Julie was out late were because she was with us. I didn't tell her anything else, but I almost did." Ben said with his head in his hands. They were at Mr. Smoothies again because Ben really needed something to calm his nerves. At first Gwen and Kevin were worried because Ben never looked this nervous, even with fighting Vilgax. But after hearing about Julie being sick, and Ben running into her mother,

"Couldn't handle the pressure?" Kevin joked.

"You have no idea." Ben recalled the conversation he had with Mrs. Yamato. "One moment, she's offering me tea, and saying some of the nice things Julie's said about me. The next, she wants to know what Julie's been doing out so late."

"And you just told her?" Gwen asked incredulously.

"I couldn't help it." Ben said. "She is very nice and polite, but when she gives you this smile it's like she's saying 'tell the truth or else'. I almost told her about the Ultimatrix and Ship right there. I don't even know how I'm going to talk to her next time."

Kevin took a sip of his smoothie. "Just do what I do. Speak politely, don't act stupid, and don't mention your time you spent in the Null Void."

Gwen just raised an annoyed eyebrow at her boyfriend. "I don't think it's that simple, Kevin."

Ben just sighed as he put his head down. "Nothing ever is."

XXXXX

Some distance away, more trouble was coming closer.

It was a beast of black substance. It was a big, black mass that had no distinguishing features, though it looked like it was becoming more canine with each step it took. Whatever it was, it was searching for something. And by the sudden turn of direction it took, it finally found it.

So it hastened its pace towards where the thing it was searching for lied. From where it was running, you could see that its target was at a place known as Mr. Smoothie.

-To be continued-

* * *

**Next Time:**

**Julie's still feeling sick.**

"_I've been –cough- better." Julie weakly replied from her bed. Ben couldn't help but to notice how pale she looked._

**Ben's still feeling clueless.**

"_So what kind of creature is this?"_

"_Whatever it is, hope you like its fur color, Gwen." Kevin morphed his hands into two long, sharp blades that shined in the light. "Cause I'm gonna get you a new coat!" _

**And the creature is still feeling hungry…?**

"_Why do you keep attacking it if it keeps eating them and growing stronger!" Ben shouted. _

**Can our heroes subdue this mysterious beast as they learn a very important lesson? :**

**Next Episode: ****Don't feed the Animals! (Or a Balanced Diet of Mana Leads to…?)**

**

* * *

**

Author's Note

:

_HEY, GUYS! This is Count Kulalu. Sorry it's been so long, but I am very busy. So busy in fact that I've been forced to put Fanfic writing to the bottom of my list. See?_

_(Pulls out a LONG list that rolls onto the floor.)_

_So I'm really sorry, but I'll keep posting when I get more free time._

_So, hey, wanna know a secret?_

_My birthday is this month._

_Wanna know what you could do for me?_

_:'( How about you give me some reviews! I don't mean to sound mad but it's been how long and I've only gotten past the 5 review mark for all my fics. I just want to know that somebody out there cares that I write these stories. : ( _

_Well, maybe you could all do something else for me. Or rather for YOU. Whichever works. : )_

_I've posted a writing challenge for you fellow Ben 10 friends. Just look at my profile for more details. If you need more questions answered, just message me and I'll get back to you as soon as I can._

_Well, hope you enjoyed the stuff so far. There is still more to come.; )_


	3. AUTHOR'S NOTE!

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE 2/5/12**  
Hey guys,  
After much thinking, I've decided to take down these stories ("Rise of the Baranoia" and maybe "My Girlfriend's a Fox"). I really hate to do this, but I can't think of a single thing to do with it. I've just been away too long to get back into it. I'm sorry. I really am. It isn't fair to let what little fans I may have had down. I just want to say that maybe I am not yet ready to take on such a huge series of stories. However, I still want to do one shots and will keep my "Would you like me if?" and "Character confessions at the Krazy Kulalu" series up. And who knows? Maybe one day I will have the skills needed to bring my bigger series back up. If you want me to leave them up, I will for now, but if I were to ever continue them, I would most likely rewrite them. Still, I hope this doesn't turn you off from reading anything else I post.

Also, please take part in my story challenges as well as the poll I currently have on my profile. (Please! Please! Please!)

Until we meet again, this is Count Kulalu saying TTFN. Until next time!  
-Count Kulalu-


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